A Message from Dean Neal Van Alfen: Preserving Cooperative ExtensionCooperative Extension was established with the passage of the Smith-Lever Act of 1914, which gave state agricultural universities funds to hire county agricultural agents. The agents were to be the conduits through which knowledge from the land-grant universities could be extended to rural America and improve the quality of rural life. As the nation’s -- and California’s -- demographics have changed over the last 90 years, so has the scope of Cooperative Extension’s mission. Today, CE helps improve the lives of both urban and rural people with programs in such varied arenas as natural resources, nutrition, urban planning, agricultural-urban interface and 4-H. However, CE’s primary mission remains one of extending knowledge to the public and providing a personal link to the valuable research performed at the University of California through the Agricultural Experiment Station. CE is currently facing 30 percent permanent cuts on July 1, 2003 -- no other state agency is facing cuts of this magnitude. Such cuts would force crippling office and facilities closures and an end to many core applied research and extension projects. At least 22 CE specialist positions in our college would be permanently eliminated if the proposed cuts were evenly apportioned over the CE budget. I have gone on record regarding the great value of Cooperative Extension specialists to the college. I will do everything I can to protect our newest CE specialists; it would not be in the best interests of the future of the college or the university to meet budget cuts by laying off recently hired faculty and decimating vital research programs. In the past, the work of CE specialists has been crucial in confronting such crises as infant nutrition, Sudden Oak Death and Pierce’s disease. Without the experts and infrastructure of Cooperative Extension, California would be ill-prepared to respond to present and future threats to the health and welfare of our citizens and to our natural resources and agriculture. It is important that the University of California maintains this important link -- a link provided by Cooperative Extension -- between our campuses and the citizens of every county in the state. As always, we welcome your feedback. If you have questions or comments, please e-mail me.

Roger Boulton to Give Well-Known LectureRoger Boulton, professor of viticulture and enology, has been invited to give the 2003 lecture to the American Society for Enology and Viticulture at the society’s annual meeting in June, in Reno. His lecture, "Predicting the Color of Red Wine," will cover some aspects of work on the copigmentation of anthocyanins and the prediction of wine color from its chemical composition.

Susan Handy Appointed to Two CommitteesSusan Handy, associate professor of environmental science and policy, was recently appointed to the Institutes of Medicine Committee on the Prevention of Obesity in Children and Youth and to the National Advisory Committee for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Active Living by Design program. Both appointments are the result of her research on the connection between the physical design of communities and people’s choices about travel, particularly walking.

Frank Mitloehner to the RescueFrank Mitloehner, assistant CE specialist in the Department of Animal Science, was contacted by the Sonoma Valley High School, which was being threatened with a lawsuit by neighbors living around the school's animal facilities. The neighbors had made nuisance complaints concerning noise, dust, odors and flies -- complaints that the school district could not resolve. Frank, an air-quality specialist, conducted a survey and had the neighbors fill out a complaint questionnaire. He then spent a day and night at the facility, sleeping in his car. Using common sense and knowledge of animal behavior, he met with all parties involved for a mediation session and made recommendations to the school for solving the nuisance problems. A plan of action was drafted and set into motion. So elated were the neighbors that they took the money they'd collected for the lawsuit and gave it to the school to support its ag program and even helped build improved fences for the facility. Local newspapers plan to pick up the story.

Boosting Beef’s Bottom-lineWestern Farm Press reported on the many efforts of animal science professor Edward Price and CE advisor Glenn Nader to help cattle ranchers raise and sell their animals more efficiently and profitably. Among their advice: using a simple calve-raising technique called “fence line weaning” produces healthier, heavier calves; and video and Internet marketing helps ranchers and consumers make a direct connection.

Emerita Expands Enologic ExploitsThe Los Angeles Times recently profiled Carole Meredith, professor emerita of viticulture and enology, and her grape-growing and wine-making venture in the Napa Valley. Meredith, a national celebrity in Croatia for her work linking the origin of Zinfandel grapes to the Croatian variety Crljenak, and her husband Steve Lagier now run Lagier-Meredith Vineyards, producing 500 cases a year of $50 a bottle Syrah.

Tannin Test Tops ToolboxThe San Francisco Chronicle, in a story about a tannin-management revolution in California winemaking, reported how vintners can now check the amount of tannin in wine using a simple and inexpensive test developed by viticulture and enology professor Douglas Adams.

Call for Nominations: Academic Federation Award for Excellence in TeachingThe Academic Federation is calling for nominations for its annual Award for Excellence in Teaching, which is given in recognition of the contributions made to the teaching mission of the Davis campus by non-Senate faculty members, and carries with it a $500 prize. Nominations can be made by any member of the campus community. Nominations must be received in the Academic Federation Office, 301 Voorhies Hall, by 5:00 p.m., Friday, March 14, 2003.

Fulbright Distinguished Chairs ProgramNext year more than 800 U.S. faculty and professionals will travel to 140 countries to lecture or perform research as Fulbright scholars. The deadline to apply for the Fulbright Distinguished Chairs Program is May 1.

RFP: California Crop Improvement Association (CCIA)The CCIA is requesting alfalfa, beans and cereal research projects for 2003-04. Proposals are due March 21, 2003. The CCIA board of directors will award research grants at their May meeting.

RFP: Pierce’s Disease Research GrantsThe Division of Agricultural and Natural Resources (ANR) is pleased to announce a peer-reviewed research program for Pierce’s disease, sponsored by a special $1.85 million grant from the USDA. Proposals are due April 14, 2003.

RFP: Sierra Foothills Research and Extension CenterThe Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center (SFREC) is soliciting proposals for new research for the upcoming program year, May 1-April 30. Proposals are due at SFREC by March 7, 2003. The center expects to award approximately 5,000 hours of labor to assist continuing and new research projects. The center comprises 5,721 acres of northern Sierra foothill oak woodland-annual grass rangeland. Several watersheds fall within its boundaries, and the Yuba River flows along the southern edge, offering opportunities for water-quality and riparian-habitat studies. There are 160 acres of irrigated pasture, with a herd of 350 beef cows and 100 yearlings calves. Other resources include a weather station, GIS database and other long-term databases related to hardwoods and annual rangeland pasture use by cattle; stream hydrology in managed watersheds; climate and range forage yields. Facilities include a lab for chemical and biological analyses.

RFP: Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP)The University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP) has released a request for proposals (RFP) to support research and education projects on sustainable food systems. Targeted topic areas include: direct or regional marketing/distribution systems (demonstration or pilot projects) and socioeconomic analyses of conventional or alternative food systems. Total funding available is approximately $80,000 with typical awards of $10,000-$20,000. Larger budgets will be considered if well justified. Proposals are due May 1, 2003.

For complete guidelines see theRFPInformation about previously funded projects is available atSAREP's Web site

Exhibition: Fragile Hope: Lifesaving Textiles in a Time of WarThis continuing exhibition at the Design Museum presents, for the first time anywhere, an overview of textile blood chits, maps, and escape and evasion aids curated by R.E. Baldwin, co-author of the book "Last Hope: The Blood Chit Story." The items on display are from the United States, Great Britain, Australia, North Africa, China, Burma, Korea, Laos and Vietnam. The Design Museum is located at 145 Walker Hall. Hours: Monday-Friday, 12-5 p.m.; Sundays, 2-4 p.m.; through March 7. For more information, visit http://design.ucdavis.edu/museum/current/02-03.html.

CA&ES Currents, the faculty/staff newsletter of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UC Davis, is distributed every other Friday. News deadline is noon Monday preceding Friday publication. Send inquiries to Ann Filmer, [email protected]

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